And yet another one on cars that are to invade US shores, this time with Mercedes-Benz. Well, Merc has always been in the US market for the longest time since there’s always a market for them. Still, with fuel-efficiency consciousness on the rise, they decided that Americans would have good use for their hybrids.

Aside from the 2010 S 400 BlueHYBRID that’s set to arrive in September of next year, Merc will also be sending the next-generation E-Class by 2010 and C-Class by 2011. And, by 2012, Daimler will be making thousands of electric Smart ForTwos as well.

Thee S400 uses Mercedes 3.5L V-6 gasoline engine paired to a 15kW electric motor. Its electric juice is stored using lithium-ion batteries. In a combined cycle, the S400 gets 29.8 mpg which is pretty decent given the V6 and the 3.5L engine.

Well, quite personally, I do appreciate the fuel-saving efforts by automakers world-wide though the thought of a Merc hybrid somehow doesn’t quite fit with me too well. I still have this notion of luxury cars somehow lose their pedigree when they’re fitted with electric motors. Takes a while to get used to the idea, I guess.

Source: Automotive News (subscription required)

I knew they had to think things over. The SLR-thrashing SL 65 AMG Black Series has created a lot of buzz recently. But it seems that Merc parent company, Daimler, has taken a good look at how Merc’s flagship series - the S-class - a good hard look. Worldwide sales of the flagship fell 11.9 in the first half of this year. In the US, alone, where Merc normally considers a viable market, the S-Class sales dropped 23%.

Why should Daimler be worried? It’s because the S-Class is considered as one of Merc’s cash cows, responsible for bringing in 20-25% of pretax profits for the company. Across Merc’s fleet, only the C-Class enjoyed a rise in figures (up by nearly 39%).

Is this a sign that even those who can afford buying a luxury car such as the S-Class in the US are not considering buying car this time? Perhaps. Merc’s strategy to offset this is to ship their cars to China and Russia which have currently higher demands.

Source: Automotive News (subscription required)